Scotland became the first side to qualify for the Super Six after Stuart Whittingham (three for 35), Safyaan Sharif (two for 21) and Alasdair Evans (two for 24) shared wickets between them to dismiss Nepal for 149 in 47.4 overs at the Queens Sports Club.

Captain Kyle Coetzer then single-handedly steered his side home in 41.3 overs by scoring an unbeaten 88 off 136 balls with seven fours and three sixes. He was later named as the player of the match.

Scotland’s last league match is against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club on Monday, 12 March, and irrespective of how that match pans out, they are guaranteed to take at least two points into the Super Six. A win over Zimbabwe will mean they will carry four points with them to the next stage.

In the Super Six stage, Scotland will play the top three sides from Group A which will be from the Windies, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates. Papua New Guinea (PNG), the other side in Group A, are now out of the Super Six race after suffering their third straight defeat and in danger of losing their ODI status at the end of the tournament.

Fast bowler Whittingham later said: “This is my first game in the tournament, so it was nice to strike early and continue that going forward. We have gone really well bowling first so far, we were happy to bowl and chase. There was definitely a lot of swing early on and as the game progressed, the pitch got slower and slower and seemed to die a little bit, it was taking spin very well.

“Coetzer is a class player, it was only a matter of time before he got a big score. Hopefully he can kick off from here and keep going. We will take it game by game, that’s how we have gone well so far. We have a big game against Zimbabwe, we are looking to rest up for a couple of days and then go full steam.”